Amazon pays $51M for site of former Chicagoland amusement park

Amazon has claimed another chunk of land to develop into their well-oiled distribution centers, this time the site of a former amusement park in Bolingbrook.

The 119-acre site straddles Route 53 with 82 acres on the west side and 37 acres on the east side. The e-commerce giant paid $50.5 million for the parcel according to a deed filed with Will County, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“Amazon is a dynamic business and we are constantly exploring new locations and weighing a variety of factors when deciding where to develop future sites to best serve customers, however, we have a policy of not commenting on our future roadmap,” an Amazon spokesperson said. “This land purchase in Bolingbrook provides us with the flexibility to quickly respond to our future network needs.”

The land-grab is one of many Amazon has been making in the Chicago area over the last year. The firm already has a massive 237,000-square-foot facility in Skokie, Illinois, just 15 miles north of Chicago, and plans on building a 623,000-square-foot facility in Maywood. Amazon has opened more than 20 warehouse facilities in Illinois since 2016, consulting firm MWPVL International found, according to the Tribune.

Just two weeks ago, the e-commerce giant expressed interest in a 40-acre distribution center in Pullman. If this trend continues, the site of a Former Wrigley gum factory has Amazon written all over it.

The Bolingbrook property was previously owned by a unit of Cox Automotive, and years prior housed an indoor amusement park and mall called “Old Chicago.”

CBRE broker Matt Ishikawa represented Cox in the sale. [Crain’s] — Jacqueline Flynn